unfinished glory

Chapter 34 Five-game winning streak

On November 2004, 11, the Spurs returned to home against the Golden State Warriors.

Popovich was very annoyed by the crisp defeat in Seattle in the last game.During the two days of team training back in San Antonio, the whole team, from Duncan to Li Chongxiao, was scolded all over the place.

So the Spurs players held back their fire and burst out in the game against the Warriors, giving their opponent a huge defeat.

From the beginning to the end of the game, the Warriors did not lead.

In the first quarter of the game, the Warriors were directly beaten by the Spurs 26:12, and only 25% of their field goals were defended.

By the end of halftime, the Spurs had extended the score to 54:33.

In the third quarter, the Warriors struggled for a while and recovered the score by 4 points to 57:76.

Then, as soon as the fourth quarter came up, there was a blow to the head: Li Chongxiao and Barry each scored a three-pointer, which caused the Warriors to call a timeout.

Back from the timeout, Ginobili made another direct steal.Maybe because he was excited, Ginobili waved up. He didn't choose to make a layup during the fast break, but directly made a three-pointer from the outside.

Fortunately, he got in, otherwise this kind of play that Popovich hates so much would definitely be scolded again.

In one and a half minutes, it was beaten 9:0, and the score was extended to 85:57. The head coach of the Warriors, Mike Montgomery, put his head in his hands.

Then the Spurs began to slow down the pace and maintain the pressure on the defense. The Warriors struggled to resist until halfway through the fourth quarter, 64:92.

At this time, the Spurs began to replace the main players, changing all the players who could be sent to the field.

The final score of the game was 106:74. The Spurs won by 32 points, sweeping away the haze of the last game.

Li Chongxiao played 24 minutes and scored in double figures again.Among them, he made 5 of 3 three-pointers, 3 of 2 two-pointers, and scored 2 free throws. He scored a total of 15 points, a career high.

In addition, there are 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and his performance is very comprehensive.

Immediately following November 11, the Spurs ushered in the Heat led by Shaquille O'Neal at home.

Due to Wade's injury and rest, the Heat were dominated by O'Neal.Facing their old opponent, the Sharks scored a large double-double with 23 points and 21 rebounds. It is especially worth mentioning that they made 7 of 5 free throws.

But in this game, the Spurs had the last laugh.

吉诺比利光芒四射，他全场拿下29分7篮板7助攻6抢断，带领马刺队以93：84取得胜利。

Li Chongxiao saw the sharpness of the "Demon Blade". The whole game gave people the feeling that Ginobili was everywhere and omnipotent.

He can always hit some unexpected shots and send some magical assists.Even with such an unscrupulous offensive method, Popovich, who is often angry, doesn't want to talk to him.

However, this game also exposed some problems, that is, the Spurs' free throws.

In this game, the Spurs made 29 of 17 free throws and made 58.6% of their free throws, which pissed off Popovich.

What's even more frightening is that Duncan made 14 of 5 free throws, and his shooting percentage was less than [-]%.

In the training class on the second day, Popovich stared at Duncan with a stern expression for 2 minutes while holding the statistics sheet, and Duncan also stared at each other blankly for 2 minutes.

Li Chongxiao burst out laughing in the back, and Popovich finally caught the young man and dragged him to guide Duncan to make free throws.

Wang Zhizhi also played for less than a minute in this game. After the game, Li Chongxiao went over to chat for a few words, and the two exchanged contact information.

Big Zhi was very envious of Li Chongxiao being able to enter the Spurs' main rotation and scoring 7 points. He simply congratulated the Spurs on their victory in this game, then declined Li Chongxiao's invitation, and returned to Miami with the team.

Two days later, the Spurs headed to Atlanta to challenge the Hawks.

The core player of the Eagles this season is Antoine Walker, nicknamed "Fat Toutuo" by Chinese fans. This guy loves to shoot three-pointers. In the highest season, he averaged 8 shots from beyond the three-point line per game.

For a power forward player in this era, this style of play is deviant.So once a reporter asked Walker why he took so many three-pointers, the answer given by "Fat Toutuo" was jaw-dropping: "Because there is no four-point line!"

In this game against the Spurs, Walker played well, making 5 of 4 three-pointers, and finally scored 23 points and 10 rebounds.

But what no one expected was that Bowen of the Spurs showed off his skills, making 5 of 5 three-pointers and scoring 22 points.

In addition, in the "Barry Derby" between the two teams, his younger brother Brent Barry had the last laugh. He scored 13 points, while Joan Barry only scored 9 points.

Li Chongxiao was also on the bench, scoring 11 points and scoring in double figures again.

In the end, the Spurs won the game without bloodshed and won three consecutive victories.

Then the Spurs returned to the home court and played the Knicks back to back.

Coach Wilkens racked his brains to find a way to break through the Spurs' defense, but the effect was not great.In the whole game, the Knicks' main attacking half was rumbling, and they shot 38.7% of their field goals.

Moreover, the Knicks' offensive tactics were very chaotic. The players took the ball and immediately focused on individual singles.

In the whole game, the Spurs had 25 assists, while the Knicks had only 14, of which Marbury accounted for 7 times.

The situation of the Knicks relying on player singles has already begun to emerge at the beginning of the season.

Relying on the overwhelming touch of the players, they can still win some rookie games, but they have no power to fight against a strong team like the Spurs.

Bowen's hand feeling today is average, 8 of 2 shots, which is cheaper than Li Chongxiao.The latter played a little longer than usual and scored another 20 points in 12 minutes.

At the same time, he restricted Jamal Crawford to only 15 of 5 shots and only scored 13 points, showing his defensive ability.

On November 11, the Spurs rushed to Philadelphia to play against the 18ers.

Iverson is the well-deserved core and spiritual leader of the 76ers. No matter what achievements he can achieve in the future, as far as he is concerned, he is now a legend.

He once said: "On the court, I don't have to respect and fear anyone, even if that person is a god." And his actions on the court also illustrate this point.

If you have watched the 76ers game, it is hard not to be in awe of this 1.8-meter-three little man.He is always full of enthusiasm in the game and goes all out to pursue victory.

He kept running, kept fighting, and threw his injured body out time and time again.

So today, when David Stern continues to create a gentleman's basketball atmosphere, this tattooed, dreadlocked, rebellious player is still admired by many fans and even players.

Even in China, "loyalty to Ai for life" is the basketball belief of many people.

People who play basketball in China at this time like to call two heights standard basketball height, one is 1.9 meters eight, Jordan's height is known as the standard shooting guard height, Kobe, Carter, Ray Allen are all of this height .

After coming to the United States, Li Chongxiao realized that 1.9 meters [-] is [-] feet [-] inches in the United States, and the players reported it to round up.Some players are slightly lower, like Kobe; some are taller, like Li Chongxiao.

The other standard height is 1.8 meters three, which is Iverson's height.

The theme of the entire game was a defensive battle. The Spurs themselves shot only 40.8% and scored 88 points.But they limited opponents to 35.4 percent shooting, allowing the 76ers to score just 80 points.

Iverson hit the rim again and again and still couldn't get a win. After the 2000~2001 season, they have been going downhill.

Li Chongxiao really admires Iverson, but when it comes to the game, his goal is to win, putting everything else aside.

While scoring 6 points, he also saw the opportunity and gave Iverson two caps.

It is rare for this game in China to arrange an Eastern Conference game, and I don't know what the fans in front of the TV are like.

After winning this game, the Spurs went on a five-game winning streak.The first eight games achieved a record of seven wins and one loss, ranking first in the league.

(End of this chapter)